A Discovery of Witches

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A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy #1)

Deborah Harkness

Viking Penguin: 2011, 579 pages

Audiobook length: 24 hours and 2 minutes

Read by Jennifer Ikeda

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Diana Bishop comes from a long line of witches (think back to Salem, Massachusetts) but refuses to give into her magical heritage.  She focuses instead on her work as a historian, spending the year in Oxford for her latest research.  When she unknowingly comes across a magical manuscript thought long lost for centuries, the creature world becomes abuzz with excitement.  Soon there are witches, vampires, and daemons coming into the Bodleian Library in droves, including one Matthew Clairmont, a very old and very intense vampire.  They all believe Diana holds the key in unlocking the bewitched manuscript but Diana doesn't want to be a part of it, at all.  Soon events bind Diana and Matthew to work together while facing increasingly dangerous enemies.  Audiobook narrator Jennifer Ikeda does an excellent job creating a soothing voice in Diana while also managing a wide variety of accents.

Grin and Beard It

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Grin and Beard It (Winston Brothers #2)

Penny Reid

Cipher-Naught: 2016, 389 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

The second in Penny Reid's Winston Brothers series, this book focuses on oldest brother Jethro.  Jethro made some mistakes in his past but he's moved on and became a better person.  He feels like he's still making amends to his family but he knows he'll never go back to the way he was when he was trying to be a big shot in the local biker gang.  As a park ranger, Jethro finds a very lost but very beautiful woman who is part of the production company that's shooting a movie by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Jethro doesn't realize, at first, that the lost woman is Sienna Diaz, the famous A-list comedian and writer.  She's America's sweetheart who is a workaholic but can't help but be captivated by Jethro's good looks and charm.  Will they be able to date like normal people?  Will Sienna's fame and Jethro's past ruin their future?  Readers don't necessarily have to read the first book in the Winston Brothers series but it is highly recommended.

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer

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Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer

Katie Alender

Scholastic Press: 2013, 296 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Colette Iselin is going back to her French roots!  A junior at a private school in Ohio, Colette leaps at the chance to spend nine days in France for a school trip.  But Paris is on alert right now: there's a serial killer targeting the young and beautiful and the killing method of choice is decapitation.  Colette isn't worried until she starts seeing visions of a pale woman in a pink ball gown and large white wig, like Marie Antoinette herself. Colette starts to investigate and teams up with a local French boy since her self-obsessed "friends" don't seem that interested.  Colette learns that her father's family may have been a part of something and now it seems that Colette is also involved and in danger! Can she solve the mystery and keep her head connected to her body before the trip is over?

The Collector

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The Collector

Nora Roberts

Berkley: 2014, 483 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Lila Emerson is a young adult writer and a professional house-sitter.  While on the job at a beautiful high-rise apartment in New York City, Lila witnesses a murder in the apartment across the street.  What seems like a typical murder-suicide turns out to be a convoluted and deadly mess.  Lila partners with Ash Archer, the brother of the alleged murderer, and together they try to sort through the mess that got Ash's brother and his girlfriend killed.  It's a whirlwind of priceless antiques, sudden trips to Italy, and dodging a psychotic assassin.  Throw in a bit of romance and you've got the perfect, if not typical, Nora Roberts novel.

When in Doubt, Add Butter

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When in Doubt, Add Butter

Beth Harbison

St. Martin's Press: 2012, 338 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Gemma is thirty-seven and over the dating scene.  She's perfectly happy with her busy life as a personal chef, working with six very different clients.  Lex and a client she calls Mr. Tuesday love comfort food, Willa needs to lose weight but is very skeptical and hates dieting, a Russian family whose patriarch may or may not be a mob boss, a typically wealthy Georgetown family, and the Van Houghtens, a family suffering hungrily because Mrs. Van Houghten claims to be allergic to anything and everything.  Cooking is predictable but that is a comfort to Gemma, whose life is becoming more and more unpredictable.  She's thrown for a major curve and will have to rely on her friends, her strength, and her food to keep her head above water.

Beauty and the Rake

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Beauty and the Rake (The Rookery Rogues #3)

Erica Monroe

Quillfire Publishing: 2015, 351 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Abigail Vautille has lived in the Whitechapel rookery her whole life, working long, hard hours at the factories until a tragic event rendered her unable to work.  With no other options at hand, Abigail offers herself in order to deal with her father's gambling debts and save them from debtor's prison.  Inspector Michael Strickland of the Metropolitan Police likes the deal; he gets to spend two weeks with Abigail as his mistress in exchange for forgiving the debt but is unaware that she has never been with a man before.  After all, aren't all Whitechapel women the same?  As they spend more time with each other, both are unprepared for how deep their feelings towards each other becomes.  Will Abigail be able to let go of the past?  Will Michael be able to change his roguish lifestyle? Readers should be aware that there is some sexual content and explicit language but it is not constant throughout the book.  The typical cliches of romance novels are present, as is the lack of historical accuracy.

His Forever Family

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His Forever Family

Sarah M. Anderson

Harlequin: 2016, 256 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Billionaire Marcus Warren and his executive assistant Liberty Reese were on their usual morning run, reviewing the day's schedule, when they find an abandoned newborn.  Suddenly seeing the maternal side of Liberty, Marcus beings to realize that Liberty is more than just his assistant but someone honest, someone who he could have a real future with, and not someone looking just for his money.  But Liberty doesn't want to get involved, she's worked too hard and too long to give up her security.  She wants her past to stay in the past but it gets more and more difficult to resist him.  His Forever Family is a quick read and it does contain some sexual content.  Readers should be aware that it is a Harlequin romance so the cliches will be abundant.  

Beating Ruby

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Beating Ruby (Spotless #2)

Camilla Monk

Montlake Romance: 2016, 310 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

The second book in her Spotless series, Monk brings back our beloved hero and heroine, March and Island.  Added to the mix is Alex, Island's new boyfriend who seems to be wonderful, who could be the one to finally end her virgin status, but isn't March.  Months after the events of the first novel, Island is trying to not think of March and get back to her life and immerses herself in her new work project: Ruby, a sophisticated piece of software that has somehow been used to steal a very large sum of money.  It looks like her boss is the suspect but he committed "suicide" and can't prove his innocence so Island takes up the task of clearing his name.  The sequel is fun, entertaining, full of action, and not explicit in sexual content or violence.

Spotless

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Spotless

Camilla Monk

Montlake Romance: 2015, 332 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Island Chaptal is a 25-year-old IT engineer who loves escaping into romance novels to distract her from the fact that she is also a 25-year-old virgin.  Her rather humdrum life takes a drastic turn when she comes home early from work one day to find a very attractive but very OCD hit man cleaning her apartment.  March isn't there to kill her but he wants the diamond that Island's late mother stole from a crime organization called the Board; apparently Island's mother wasn't a French diplomat as she was led to believe her whole life.  Island has no choice but to work with March whilst also avoiding all the other baddies who also want the diamond and want to dismember her.  This is an actiony-romance novel with none of the cheesy explicit scenes that are too often found in other contemporary romance novels.  

Happily Ever Ninja

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Happily Ever Ninja (Knitting in the City #5)

Penny Reid

Caped Publishing: 2016, 376 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Penny Reid's Knitting in the City series is set in present day Chicago and revolves around seven women who meet once a week to drink wine and knit.  Each book in the series focuses on a particular member of the group.  They are can be read as a stand alone but there are little novellas that are recommended, especially #4.75 Ninja at First Sight which tells the backstory of our two main characters.

Fiona and Greg have been married for fourteen years and have two young children.  Husband Greg is often away months at a time for work and Fiona manages...perhaps a little too well.  She's bogging herself down but never shows any weakness and Greg feels like he's not needed when she feels the exact opposite.  When an emergency strikes the family and pushes Fiona into a more leading role, Greg is unsure of how to handle it.  This is a story about how difficult marriage can be, even if both people are still desperately in love with one another.  While that sounds dramatic, the book is actually quite humorous and a bit action-y as well!

The Wrath and the Dawn

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The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1)

Renee Ahdieh

G.P. Putnam's Sons: 2015, 388 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

The Wrath and the Dawn is the first in Ahdieh's series that is based off the story of Scheherazade and One Thousand and One Nights.  While the author uses a few stories from the collection, the book does a good job of creating its own unique story.  Khalid is the young Caliph of Khorasan and each night he takes a bride and each morning he has her killed.  Sixteen year old Shahrzad volunteers in order to take revenge for the killing of her best friend.  Slowly, Shahrzad starts to fall in love with the Caliph and realizes that things are not all they seem and wonders what secrets her new husband is trying to hid from her.  The Wrath and the Dawn weaves magic, mystery, romance, and suspense in this wonderful retelling of a classic story.  Readers should be aware that the second book in the series will not be available until May 2016.

The Billionaire Takes a Bride

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The Billionaire Takes a Bride (Billionaires and Bridesmaids #3) 

Jessica Clare

Intermix: 2015, 256 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

While this book is the third in the Billionaires and Bridesmaids series (which itself is a spin-off series from her Billionaire Boys Club series), readers do not have to read the books in order.  This story focuses on Sebastian Cabral, a billionaire whose family is obsessed with being famous and filming everything for their reality show, The Cabral Empire.  Sebastian wants nothing to do with it and needs a way out of it.  Chelsea is a soap-making roller derby gal who has suffered a severe trauma in her past.  She hates being alone and now her best friend is moving away.  Chance throws them together but Sebastian and Chelsea agree to enter into a marriage of convenience in order to help them both.  But as time passes, Sebastian and Chelsea both wonder whether their sham marriage is more real than fake.  Normally Clare's books are fun, sexy (note: there is strong sexual content) reads but this one is a little different.  Readers should be aware that certain conversations could be possible triggers for those who have experienced sexual assault but there is more humor than sadness in the book.  

Landline

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Landline

Rainbow Rowell

St. Martin's Press: 2014, 310 pages

Reviewed by Tori Lyons

Georgie and Neal's relationship was never easy.  While they loved each other deeply, her career as a writer for television comedies was always at odds with Neal's more reclusive nature.  But when Georgie had to forgo the family's annual Christmas visit to Neal's parents in Nebraska to focus on a new pilot she was pitching, she was devastated when Neal packed up their two daughters and went without her.  While spending the holidays at her mom's house in her childhood bedroom, Georgie discovers an unexpected way to reflect on the Christmas many years ago when Neal had proposed to her, and she wonders if maybe Neal wouldn't have been better off if it had never happened.  Landline provides an honest and genuine look at how relationships (and the people in them) change while still remaining the same.

The Blue Castle

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The Blue Castle

L.M. Montgomery

McClelland and Stewart: 1926, 218 pages

Reviewed by Sheryl Walters

A 29 year old girl, afraid of never being loved or married, has a total transformation due to a health diagnosis.  Valancy has lived with her overbearing mother her whole life, she decides to break out of her shell and do whatever she wants to make the most of her life.  Her story is nice and has a good twist at the end.  I enjoyed this book and would recommend it for light and happy reading.